Pokemon Diamond Version - Drifblim FAQ

I said there were going to be major changes in the Pokemon of the Day section, and surprise! There are. Not only am I writing POTDs in the Pokemon Diamond FAQs, but FoxofWar is writing some in the Pokemon Pearl FAQs. We'll be switching off days; I write on Tuesday and Thursday, FoxofWar writes on Mondays and Wednesdays, and we both write on Fridays. FoxofWar handles casual play, while I handle pokemon mostly use in the competitive arena.
Pokemon of the Day: Drifblim

Drifblim was one of the pokemon I was most excited to get my hands on in D/P. I don't know why, but probably because it was so unique. Flying and Ghost combined for the first time in the history of Pokemon. I breezed past him my first time through, though, because it was a Saturday and I didn't want to spend 6 days around the Valley Windworks. Upon my second run-through, I captured Drifloon but stored him in my CPU box in favor of the lovable Mesprit. Why? Because I didn't use Drifblim well. I had turned him into some horrible psuedo-Special Sweeper, and the move set I had given him wasn't doing him any favors. Later, I traded him in the GTS for an Uxie (who I subsequently traded for a Cresselia. I feel bad for the guy who got the Uxie).
Anyway, I've decided to review Drifblim due to the many requests I've recieved asking about him. Drifblim is a tricky pokemon to use; if you can't play him strategically, Drifblim will end up like the Hindenburg.
[[Image from psypokes.com]]

Type: Flying/Ghost

Generation: 4th, Diamond and Pearl.

Evolution: Evolves from Drifloon at level 28.

Location: Drifloon can be found outside the Valley Windworks on Friday. You'll see his sprite wandering the grounds.

Abilities:Aftermath-The pokemon that KOs Drifblim loses 1/4 of its max HP.Unburden-Speed doubled once the held item is consumed.

Move List
Consrict-Basic--------->Stockpile-lvl 22

Minimize-Basic--------->Swallow-lvl 27

Astonish-Basic--------->Spit Up-lvl 27

Gust-Basic------------->Ominous Wind-lvl 32

Astonish-lvl 6--------->Baton Pass (yay!)-lvl 37

Gust-lvl 11------------>Shadow Ball-lvl 44

Focus Energy-lvl 14---->Explosion-lvl 51

Payback-lvl 17

Compatable TMs

TM04-Calm Mind-------->TM48-Skill Swap

TM06-Toxic------------>TM57-Charge Beam

TM10-Hidden Power----->TM58-Endure

TM11-Sunny Day-------->TM61-Will-O-Wisp

TM15-Hyper Beam------->TM62-Silver Wind

TM17-Protect---------->TM63-Embargo

TM18-Rain Dance------->TM64-Explosion

TM21-Frustration------>TM66-Payback

TM24-Thunderbolt------>TM67-Recycle

TM25-Thunder---------->TM68-Giga Impact

TM27-Return----------->TM70-Flash

TM29-Psychic---------->TM73-Thunder Wave

TM30-Shadow Ball------>TM74-Gyro Ball

TM32-Double Team------>TM77-Psych Up

TM34-Shock Wave------->TM78-Captivate

TM42-Facade----------->TM82-Sleep Talk

TM43-Secret Power----->TM83-Natural Gift

TM44-Rest------------->TM85-Dream Eater

TM45-Attract---------->TM87-Swagger

M46-Thief------------->TM90-Substitute

HM01-Cut

HM02-Fly

HM05-Defog

Egg Moves

Memento-Breed with Weezing/Koffing or Muk/GrimerBody Slam-Breed with a Male Shellos/GastrodonDestiny Bond-Breed with a male Gastly/Haunter/Gengar, or a Wobbuffet (who are banned in play, by the way...).Disable-Breed with Duskull line, or Grimer/Muk.Haze-Breed with Weezing/Koffing.Hypnosis-Breed with Gastly line, or with Spiritomb.

Stats-(Basic Stats/Beneficial nature)

HP-150/504
Atk-80/284
Def-44/205
SAtk-90/306
Sdef-54/227
Speed-80/284

Suggested Move Set

My my, look at those stats. Nothing much to marvel at, except the gigantic HP. Drifblim is going to need it, too; his Defenses are pitiful. He can't do much with the SAtk either. Its much too low for him to be an effective Sweeper. I guess Drifblim is lucky to have his decent move pool. Plus, he has Baton Pass, which puts him squarely on my good side. Hell, I like even Mr. Mime beacause he has Baton Pass. I was about to train one once, but that's an embarrassing story for another day.
For this move set, I decided to stray a bit from the standard and make my own, slightly more original (but hopefully just as effective) set utilizing the pure goodness of Baton Pass. Drifblim is not the best of Baton Passers, but can still be useful.

Calm Mind rocks my world. Anything that raises two stats at once is good move, no matter what anybody says. Calm Mind is great on pretty much anything in the Special spectrum of pokemon. Whether raising a Tanks Sdef, or raising a Sweeper's Satk even higher, Calm Mind gets the job done. Not to mention that it is a favorite move among Blisseys, *shudders at thoughts of Calm-Minding Blisseys* but that is a discussion for another time. Calm Mind is great on a Baton Passer on Drifblim because it has a variety of pokemon to be Passed to. Like I said, both Sweepers and defensive pokemon can utilize it well, while something like Nasty Plot can only be used effectively by a Special Sweeper. Versatility is the name of the game here, and Calm Mind is extremely versatile. Lastly, Calm Mind helps Drifblim stay alive longer. I've seen useless, weak pokemon destroy Drifblim in only one or two shots (yes, even a Gastrodon. Even a Gastrodon doesn't suck that terribly). The Sdef boost offered by Calm Mind is great, since Drifblim needs all the help he can get to stay alive and Pass that baton.

Charge Beam is a great move, though a lot of people criticize it. While the Satk boot is offered only about 60% of the time(when you factor in accuracy rates), the boost will still kick in more than half the time. Charge Beam provides Drifblim with a little offensive power. Sure,he won't OHKO (One Hit Knock Out) anything, but that's not a problem. Charge Beam is simply to give Drifblim a damaging attack, but still aid his Baton Passing abilities. Charge Beam fulfills both goals, as the attack will often give Drifblim the Satk boost that he can Baton Pass away to a more willing, and able team member.Drifblim should never rely on Charge Beam as an attack; he should use it sparingly. Remember, he's not a Sweeper, he's a Baton Passer.
It should also be noted that Charge Beam is an Electrc type move. Electric moves are always good to have, considering the number of Gyarados running around Wi-Fi these days (Gyarados is the most used pokemon, other than Blissey). While Drifblim will probably not (read:never) be able to KO a Gyarados on its own, Charge Beam can still do a decent amount of damage to the ever popular flying serpent. Also, Charge Beam hits Skarmory (most annoying pokemon EVER) for super effective damage. Once again, while Charge Beam won't do a huge amount of damage to Skarmory, it will have done some, and maybe you'll even get the Satk boost.

Substitute is the key to Drifblim's strategy. Substitute steals 1/4 of the max HP of the pokemon using it, and makes that HP into a dummy. That dummy takes the hits for the pokemon that cast it, and status effects won't work on the dummy . If you remember back in the R/B/Y days, Substitute was pretty useless. You couldn't switch pokemon in or out, or else you'd lose the Sub. However, Substitute is one of the most useful moves of the later generations. Why? Because Substitutes can be passed with Baton Pass! That means that Drifblim can make 126 HP Subs that he can Pass to other pokemon! That means that the pokemon he passes to can take 126 damage, and the pokemon won't even be hurt! Drifblim's Sub will absorb all the damage for it! I know, I look stupid with the explanation points, but its exciting! Sub-Passing is one of the basic strategies in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl Wi-Fi play, and Drifblim's playability is increased because he carries this potent combo. Drifblim can Pass huge Substitutes to otherwie very fragile pokemon, thus increasing their playability. Look at Jynx, the last pokemon I wrote about. Her HP and Def stats are sinfully low. However, if Drifblim Passes a Sub to Jynx, her longevity is increased. Jynx, of course, is not only one of the worthy recipients of Substitute.. Infernape is a great example of a pokemon that can recieve a Sub effectively. Pokemon like Salamence can recieve Subs too, but have Drifblim Pass to some of the weaker, more fragilie pokemon instead.
Baton Pass is, of course, what I've been leading up to. Baton Pass is the cental part of this Drifblim's strategy, and he can't leave home without it. Like I said, Drifblim is on my good side because he learns Baton Pass; its my favorite move. It is so versatile, and its unbelievable how effective BP can be in the right hands. Vaporeon, Togekiss, Umbreon... Winners all (except Umbreon, but I'll get to that later this week). You have to be extremely careful with Baton Pass, however. Getting too greedy will kill your pokemon in the long run. Even one Calm Mind or Charge Beam bost is good enough to Pass, especially or Drifblim. He's not very durable, and Passing one or even two or three boosts is a blessing. Substitute, of course, is Drifblim's main Pass; Pass a Sub, and your next pokemon will be pretty hard to take down.

Salac Berry raises Drifblim's Speed when he only has 1/4 or less of his HP left. Whether he's exhausted from Substitute, or a faster opponent is beating him into the ground, Salac will give him the Speed he needs to get one last Baton Pass off. Also, his ability, Unburden, combos with this. When Drifblim's hold item is used, his Speed doubles. The use of the Berry, plus the doubling effect of his ability will surely help you outspeed anything.

Drifblim has so many good move options its sickening. Will-o-Wisp is always a good choice, since Burn can disable any Physcial Sweeper. Explosion is a move I've learned to love. It really can help turn the tide of a battle. Just kamikaze into anything except a Weezing or Skarmory, or Bastiodon *retch* and you've got a OHKO. Explosion can be a great way to get rid of Drifblim if he's become useless. Haze is another awesome choice, but he couldn't be a Baton Passer. Hazers are a BPer's worst nightmare.

EVs should be devoted to HP, Defense and Sdef, maxin' out HP.

There's Drifblim. He's not spectacular, but not bad at all. In fact, I'd put him up there with the BL (above-average) pokemon. Maybe I'm soft on Drifblim because he learns Baton Pass; but then again, Flareon learns it too, and I hate that thing, even more so than Gastrodon. Anyway, Drifblim isn't used more often simply because of his terrible defenses and his rather bad typing. Everything has Ice Beam/Thunderbolt/Shadow Ball nowadays, so that really hurts the poor guy's playability. Oh well; if you're going to use him, don't have second doubts about it! He's very original, and that always scores points with me.

Speaking of Flareon, FoxofWar says that he's doing Flareon sometime this week. In case you don't know, FoxofWar's Pokemon of the Days can be found in the Pokemon Pearl FAQ section on Mondays Wednesdays and Fridays, and mine can be found here Tuedays Thursdays and Fridays. See, now you can have a Pokemon for everyday, and have two on Fridays!

Want to email me and make my life horrible for insulting your favorite pokemon? Or just want to request something? Email me at madgessecretservice@gmail.com .